Nightguards x Reader!Mute

Chapter 6 - Dark Clouds Ahead

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Mike and you were walking down the street. He was still holding on to your hand and dragging you along, as if afraid that you would stop again if he let go. It felt a bit strange, your hand was so much smaller compared to his. You looked up at him but couldn't see his face at all. He didn't even bother to turn to look at you once. It was weird.

You wondered what has suddenly gotten into him to make him act so strange. Mike has been between completely cold to crying his eyes out in the last few days. He was so unpredictable, yet this still felt somehow off. Like it didn't fit into the pattern. As if someone just threw a random puzzle piece in from another set.

For a while you kept wondering until something ripped you out of your thoughts, it was Mike. "we're here", he said in an unusual cold tone. Immediately he let go of your hand and went inside the bakery, holding the door open. You were still trying to figure out where you were when he asked, "are you coming or not?".

Once inside the smell of fresh warm bread, coffee, and various cakes hit you. You followed Mike over to a small table at a hidden corner. Jeremy and Fritz were already there, chatting about what they should get. Jeremy was the first to notice Mike. "Hey Mi- .. (Y/N)!?" he stopped when he saw you. Fritz leaned forward, "(Y/N)!". He looked excited.

"Did you come to hang out with us?" Fritz asked. "I doubt Mike asked her to hang out with him", Jeremy said before you could even answer. Mike glared at him, "what's that supposed to mean!?". Somehow the air got really tense and uncomfortable. You decided to sit down, not wanting to get involved with the two.

Fritz turned to you, not wanting to be involved either. "Is this your first time here (Y/N)?" he asked you, trying to sound excited despite the nasty vibe coming from Jeremy and Mike. You nodded. He slid a menu card over to you, "you should check out the amazing menus in here, they taste incredible". You were about to decline when you felt something next to you.

Mike finally sat down, grabbing another menu and looking through it. Jeremy sighed and looked over to you, "I'm sorry for that". He glanced over at Mike for a moment, "the night was just too much on me". Fritz chimed in, "it was tough on all of us Jeremy, it's fine". Jeremy looked over at you, "have you looked at the menu yet (Y/N)?". You shook your head and picked up the menu to check it out. For a moment you glanced over at Mike, he looked mad. You didn't really listen to what Jeremy and Mike were saying before but it must've been bad. Mike suddenly looked over and your eyes met for a second. You don't know why but you quickly averted your eyes and looked back at your menu.

The words on the menu became a blur for a moment, you were unable to focus on it for a while. Your thoughts were still with Mike. A part of you wanted to look back over to see if he was still looking at you, but you were too afraid to check. Eventually, you were able to focus on the menu and look through all the options. Everything sounded and looked so tasty that you completely forgot about Mike and Jeremy for a moment.

Fritz suddenly asked, "have you decided what you want yet (Y/N)?". Ripped out of your thoughts once again you put the menu down and pointed to a sandwich. "Oh! That's a really good choice, I've had it before and it's amazing". You could swear that he blushed a bit, maybe you picked one of his favorites. Jeremy looked over, "oh yeah, that one is pretty good". Mike slammed his menu down, startling all of you. "I'll have the same", he said coldly.

Jeremy glared at him, "what the hell Mike". He ignored him. "Can you two please stop? We have a guest", Fritz pleaded. Both were silent. You wrote down something on a little notebook, that you started to carry around recently, and slid it over to Fritz. It read, "I think everyone will be calmer once they ate something". He looked at you and nodded.

"I think we should order" Fritz said to Jeremy, who glanced over at Mike and then sighed. "Yeah, I think we should". Both got up to leave and went to the counter. After a while, you looked back over at Mike, who was looking at you. This time it was him who quickly averted his eyes. You wondered what was with him today, but after the thing tonight you didn't really want to trouble him with your own worries.

Mike eventually looked back over, he sighed. "I'm sorry (Y/N)", he sounded much more sincere than before, like when he asked you to come hang out. "Things are just so weird lately", he paused, "well more weird than usual at least". You put your hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him and to tell him it's alright. Mike finally smiled again. "You're always so forgiving and positive (Y/N)", he laughed a bit, "how do you do it..?". It made you blush a bit, you usually never get a compliment.

Your eyes met again and you could swear you could see a hint of a blush on his face, the air got tense again. Despite being grumpy and cold a lot Mike did care a lot deep down, he just didn't show it. You wondered why he's always so defensive. "Hey (Y/N), why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" Mike suddenly asked. Now you were sure that he was blushing, but so were you. Too embarrassed to answer you turned away.

Somehow you could still feel his gaze on you. You wondered how he felt about you, how he saw you. Were you just some naive kid to you? "Why does that matter?" you asked yourself as you ripped yourself out of your thoughts. You heard footsteps approaching you. "The food is ordered!" Fritz announced. He and Jeremy sat back down. Jeremy was the first to speak up, noticing the strange tension. "Did we miss something?", he asked. Fritz looked confused, not understanding what Jeremy meant. "No, not really. I just had time to think and I want to apologize" Mike answered.

Jeremy looked a bit surprised at first but quickly replied, "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean it". You felt glad that the two made up, but you still felt that there was some unresolved tension around. Did Jeremy really trust what Mike was saying? Meanwhile, Fritz seemed completely oblivious to what's going on.

Everyone was talking as if everything was back to normal, but you only semi followed the conversation. You had too much on your mind to really care about that right now. However, you often would catch Mike looking over at you for a moment before looking back at Jeremy or Fritz. It's like you were on his mind constantly for some reason and you wondered why. Somehow you found it kind of sweet though. You enjoyed the feeling.

When Mike moved a bit on his seat, so he wouldn't sit so far on the outside, his hand briefly brushed against yours. He didn't look over though and kept talking to Jeremy. You were blushing again. The thought of him holding your hand came back to your memory. Slowly you slid your hand over until your pinkie finger touched his. You could hear Mike almost stutter and cough to cover it.

"Hey, do you know when the food is coming?" he suddenly asked. "I don't know but I could go check", Fritz volunteered. Jeremy looked at you and then said, "I'll go too". You were sure he noticed Mike's coverup, unlike Fritz who was too much in his own head to pick up on it. This left Mike and you alone again. He looked over at you, a mix of emotions on his face. "What the hell was that (Y/N)?" he was so bold it felt like he drove a stake right through you, piercing your heart in the process.

His expression softened up pretty quickly though and the figurative stake disappeared. "You know that you're trouble, right?" he asked you. All you could do was blush. You were a mess as well and he could clearly feel it. There was something that was pulling you to him. You just wanted to get to know him better, but there was more to it and it was obvious. As if it was written all over your face.

"Listen (Y/N)", Mike's tone and look changed to serious again. "I..", he paused for a while, "I can't.." he then stopped himself. He sighed, "I'm sorry". Both of you looked away. After a while you heard him cough and ask, "Hey (Y/N), since that was the last workday of the week we're getting together for drinks later.. I wanted to ask if you would like to join us?". He was blushing again. You nodded, happy to be invited. Mike smiled again. You really liked to see him smile, it made you feel fuzzy inside.

Soon after Jeremy and Fritz came back with the food. Mike seemed much more cheerful now, he told them that he invited you to hang out later. Jeremy seemed surprised, Fritz on the other hand was really excited. "I asked Scott to come, so you won't have to deal with drunk Vincent alone", Jeremy said to Mike, who sighed.

"Ugh, finally! I'm so sick of dealing with him, especially when drunk" he complained. While everyone was eating Jeremy and Mike shared stories about what Vincent has already done while drunk and the times he got kicked out of the bar for it. You were so excited that you almost wished it was night, but you knew that you would need some rest before that. You wondered if Vincent would do the same as in these stories or if he would hold himself back a bit more if Scott was there. Eventually, you finished. Fritz was the first to yawn. "I think it's better if we go home and rest, that night has been horrible.. Especially on (Y/N), she'll need it the most", Jeremy said. Mike and Fritz agreed with him. You got up with Mike, Jeremy, and Fritz and went to the counter. Only now you remembered that you probably didn't have enough money on you. You started to search in your bag but Mike stopped you. "Don't worry about it, it's on me". You pulled your notebook out and wrote a "thank you" on it, showing it to Mike. He smiled and said, "no need to thank me (Y/N). I invited you after all".Fritz said goodbye and left down the street after you all got out. Jeremy stuck around for a bit longer before he had to go, apparently something came out that he really wanted. This left Mike and you alone once again. He looked over at you, "come (Y/N), I'll bring you home". You nodded and followed him back to Freddy's. Mike then drove you home and, when you got out, told you to "rest up" and to "stay safe". You watched him drive off. It was a bit hard still when you were all alone, but the thought of seeing them later made you smile. You turned around to face the old building. Someday you would move out and find a better place to live than some old beat-up house with a dozen of tiny apartments.
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~ end of chapter 6 ~